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Hip-hop stub-by Boom1x-

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Nujabes

Jun Seba, better known by his stage name Nujabes was born on February 7th, 1974, in the Nishi-Azabu district of Minato in central Tokyo, Japan.

He was the owner of two Shibuya record stores, T-Records and Guinness Records, and the founder of the independent record label Hydeout Productions in 1998.

He was a Japanese record producer, audio engineer, composer, Dj, and arranger best known for his mixes sampling from hip hop, soul, and jazz, as well as absorbing elements of triphop, breakbeat, downtempo and ambient music.

He released two studio albums during his lifetime with his ‘Spiritual State’ album released after his death. He died in 2010 in a traffic collision at the age of 36.

He has been referred to as the “godfather” of lo-fi hip hop and has been an inspiration to numerous producers and imitators.

His production techniques have been positively compared with J Dilla. Here are 10 interesting facts about Nujabes.

1. Nujabes real name is Jun Seba

Jun Seba adopted his stage name Nujabes(his name spelled backward)which made him notable for his approach to the production of hip hop beats.

He often blended jazz influences into his songs creating a sweet-sounding, sentimental and atmospheric sound.

He was a Japanese record producer, audio engineer, Dj, composer, and arranger known for his instrumental mixes which sampled from hip hop, soul, and jazz.

As well as incorporating elements of triphop, breakbeat, downtempo, and ambient music.

2. He owned two record stores T-Records and Guinness Records

Seba grew up in eastern Tokyo, Japan, and was drawn to music from a young age. He owned Guinness Records in Shibuya, investing himself in the business side of music.

After his passing in 2010, the physical shop to Guinness Records was closed but it continued to operate digitally through the Tribe shop.

The shop is underneath Guinness Records on the 3rd floor which also managed the record sales of Hydeout Productions.

Also, his Tokyo record(T-Record) shop was the underground hip-hop spot that leaned more on underground hip-hop-60% and other stuff like soul,jazz-40%.

3. Seba is the founder of the independent record label Hydeout Productions

While working at his record shops, he eventually plunged into the world of production creating the record label Hydeout Productions for making his own beats.

After learning of how they were crafted, he went on to remix with Nas, ‘One love’ of Illmatic, pressing it on wax through Top  Graphiers in 1998.

He mixed it with popular records at the time, to gain a grip on his name “crazy hustle” technique. The ‘crazy hustle’ did really well as tens of millions of people in Tokyo moved through the shop.

4. He signed a contract with Substantial New York rapper on “To This Union, a Sun Was Born”

Stanley “Substantial” Robinson is a New York rapper, passionate activist, and community organizer who became Seba’s student of hip-hop for over two decades.

According to Sub, they met through a college friend, a rapper known as Sphere of Influence who referred him to Seba when he asked about any New York rapper he could work with.

Seba phoned him and after hearing his work, they signed a contract in 1999. They met in person in 2000 when Seba flew him to Japan and started working on the “To This Union, a Sun Was Born”track. They also created over 30-40 with half of those remaining unreleased.

5. Seba worked with some popular Japanese artists

Uyama Hiroto-by nickcakeman-

Shing02 & DJ Ice Water-by May S. Young-

He collaborated with Japanese artists like Uyama Hiroto, Shing 02, L-Universe, and Minmi. He started his collaborations with L-Universe, today is known as Verbal who is an extremely huge pop star.

Seba went on to work with Shing 02  on Luv(Sic)hexalogy, which is a rare entity within most hip-hop scenes. Shingo “Shing 02″ Annen has been a major character in many of Sebas songs throughout the years.

Minmi worked with Seba on”Shiki No Uta” and Uyama Hiroto played a major role in his “Spiritual state” album.

6. Seba has worked with British rapper Funky Dl the owner of Vinyl

Funky DL-by An unknown friend of Funky DL-

Funky Dl, a modern purveyor, and preservationist of all things jazz has been releasing records for more than 20 years.

He is known for his jazz-hop mixes and works with the United Kingdoms who went to utilize UK exporters to ship Vinyl globally.

Guinness Records owned by Seba was a large importer within Japan of Dls Vinyl. They came in contact in 1999 when they crafted 10 songs, five during the first trip to Tokyo and five the following year 2000.

7. He is referred to as the “godfather” of lo-fi hip hop

LO-FI music Icon-by Junyu-K-

Lofi edit by TMG 808x from Graveyard Production-by TMG 808x-

The modern hip-hop “lo-fi” movement started when anime director Shinichiro Watanabe got determined to make the unusual mix of genres work. He released the Samurai Champloo which resulted in the “lo-fi” movement.

Seba is said to have influenced the current wave of lo-fi by changing into house music which can be heard in “Worlds End Rhapsody” on Moda Soul album and a number of other experimental tracks.

Lo-fi has helped people to break out of the box of traditional hip-hop beats and ignore the rules hip-hop purists put on them.

8. Seba did two collections with Hydeout Productions

Hydeout first collection is a compilation album, which he released under the Hydeout Productions label.

It displays his style of combining the music genres of hip-hop and jazz featuring artists Funky Dl, Apani B, Substantial, Shing o2, L-Universe, Pase Rock, Five Deez, and Cise Starr.

Hydeout second collection is a compilation album by Japanese label Hydeout Productions in 2007 featuring other hip-hop and downtempo artists including Pase Rock, Uyama Hiroto, and Shing o2.

9. Seba had three Studio Albums releasing two in his lifetime

His first album was released in 2003 known as ‘Metaphoric Music’ which has a combination of hip-hop and jazz. Modal Soul is the second album released in 2005 on his own record label which has jazzy, smooth rhythms and hip-hop.

This was the final album released during his lifetime. Spiritual State is the third album that was released in 2011after his death after those close to him finished it.

10. He died in 2010 in a traffic collision

Seba died on February 26, 2010, at the age of 36, in a traffic collision at Shuto Expressway. He was rushed to one of Shibuya hospitals which tried to save him but failed. He was buried in Tama Cemetery.

Jun Seba known by his stage name Nujabes is considered a pioneer of lo-fi hip-hop or ‘chill pop’.

Also, for his approach to blending jazz influences into his songs creates an atmospheric sound. His legacy has been featured by many many artists around the world.